Jon Jones: I hope ‘the majority of the boos were for Ovince’ Saint Preux

Jon Jones was happy to escape UFC 197 with a win, but it wasn’t the type of spectacular comeback he wanted.

Jones routed Ovince Saint Preux to claim the interim UFC light heavyweight title on Saturday night in Las Vegas, sweeping every round on the scorecards against a late-replacement opponent in Saint Preux. The victory was Jones’ first since the 2015 hit-and-run accident which derailed his career, however the fight lacked much of the flashy action that Jones is known for, and the fans in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena weren’t shy to let Jones hear it.

“When I was hearing the boos, I realized, okay, I’m chasing this guy,” Jones said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Like, I’m chasing him and he was just circling and backing up, so I was like, alright, maybe these boos aren’t for me. But, I like to give exciting fights and I felt as if I put my best foot forward. Obviously I could do more. I’m hoping that the majority of the boos were for Ovince. I think the fans are just used to me giving them real cool, exciting stuff, and they saw a more hesitant version of me versus a guy who was backing up a lot.”

Jones attributed most of his issues to the fact that he spent a majority of his camp preparing to fight UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who withdrew from the match three weeks out from fight night after suffering a foot injury.

Saint Preux stepped up on late notice to save the show, however the lanky southpaw proved to be a far different stylistic challenge than the stout wrestler Cormier, and considering the stakes at hand — a headlining spot opposite Cormier at UFC 200 — Jones found himself fighting ….View full article